Nail-holding attachment for hammers



(No Model.) G. FJBARBER.

NAIL HOLDING ATTAGHMEN'f FOR HAMMERS." No. 299,717.

- Patented June, 3, 1884.

WITNESSES INVENTOR:

- BY' Mum w ATTORNEYS.

v scription.

.tional side View of ahammer-headwith a por- UNITED STATES ATENI FFICE GEORGE E. BARBER, OF DE YKALB, ILLINOIS.

NAIL-HOLDING ATTACH MENT FOR HAM MERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,717, dated June 3, 1884.

Application filed March 31, 1884.

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. BARBER, of De Kalb, in the county of De Kalb and State of Illinois, have invented an Improved Nail- Holding Attachment for Hammers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact de- This invention has for its object the provid ing of a convenient appendage to hand-hammers for holding and starting nails when only one hand can be used or where the work is out of reach bythe hand to hold the nail at starting; and the invention consists in a special construction and combinations of parts in a nailholding hammer attachment, substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a partly broken and section of the hammer-handle having my nailholding attachment applied and with a nail in position for being entered by the hammer through means of said attachment; andFig. 2 is a transverse section on theline xx in Fig. 1.

A is the handle, and B the head, of the hammer.

O is awedge driven into the outer end of the handle and protruding therefrom, so as to form a stop or back support for the head of the nail D to be entered in the work. This nail-head back stop or support is designed to remain permanently in the handle.

E is a stout spring-clamp, of broken circular form, adapted to closely hug the nose of the head of the hammer at a suitable distance back of its face I) and to have a firm grip on the hammer-head. Firmly secured by rivets or otherwise to the top of this clamp is a shank or tongue, 13, which may be made of springsteel, and which, running backward, is bent at its rear end to enter the outer end of the handle, and serves not only as a guide or rest for the nail, butalso as an anchor to hold the clamp E to its place, the clamp in turn also. serving to firmly hold the tongue, so that it will not be jarred from its place in the hammer-handle, and the two devices combined. preventing all possibility of the nail-holding attachment flying off, even when striking the (No model.)

heaviest blows. The tongue F should be made sufficiently strong, so that it will not rise, when driving the nail, after it has been entered in the work.

G G are two spring-jaws, made much lighter and more pliable than the clamp E, to the outalong with it and be entered or started in thework, which causes the hammer to release the jaws G G from the nail, that may then be driven home by striking it with the face end of the nose of the hammer in the usual manner. The jaws G G should be made just stiff enough to hold the nail until it is started in the wood, but not so stiff as to draw the nail out or even to pull it over when releasing their hold of it. They are made of considerable length, so that if the nail strikes a knot and glances they will yield and let the nail out and spring back to their place again. tached jaws and tongue may be removed from the hammer and carried in the pocket of the operator when the nail-holding attachment is not required on the hammer.

The attachment will be found very useful to The clamp E with its atcarpenters and others on high buildings, as the operator may'hold himself securely with one hand, while doing the nailing with the other, thus avoiding the necessity of a scaffold or the splicing of a ladder for driving in a few nails, and under many other circumstances will it be found a very useful appendage, saving both time and labor and reducing the risk of accident or loss of life.

its rear end to enter the handle of the hammer I tongue F, constructed to enter the outer end IO for the purpose of anchoring the clamp on the of the handle and to anchor the clamp to its head of the hammer, substantially as specified. place, essentially as and for the purposes here- 2. The combination, with the handle A and in set forth.

5 hammer-head B of the wed e or stop 0 in the 1- 1 outer end of the handle, theiemovable spring- BARBER clamp E, constructed to partly encircle and l \Vitncsses:

CHARLES M. R1012, WILLIAM BARRETT.

hug the nose of the hammer, the nail-holding spring-jaws G G attached to the clamp, and the 

